Thoughts for another day

Nov. 5, 2007

Today's verse: Lk 9:62. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (KJV)
(Pls. read the above before you read further. Thanks)

Nothing can be truer than the above when it concerns a decision with one’s desire to do God’s work. For when you decide to work for God, you will invariably find that a number of obstacles and necessities of the world arise from nowhere. These obstacles have only one purpose: to make you look behind and linger in your current world for just a little longer even as you think you will then follow the Lord. And countless number of times we have seen that it just doesn’t happen i.e. the person never gets into serving the Lord.

This is the principle of the evil one at work. As soon as the desire of working for the Lord comes, he puts the thought of your being much needed in the things of the world; so much so that you feel that, without your being there, the whole thing you are involved with, will come crashing down. You then get involved in the immediate need of the situation thinking it is for the last time. But, before long you become so involved that you are not able to let go. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, ‘if you look back, you aren’t fit for His Kingdom.’ In other words, you were never really interested in working for Him.

The decision to work for God has to be instantaneous and permanent. It is not a matter of feeling, like you do, to eat an apple, etc. If you discover you are not able to find time to pray or fast or do His work, reflect. Did you decide to do it or were you casual about it? You will see that you had not made a conscious decision to go ahead. Now look at what the Bible says about Levi, the tax collector (Lk. 5:27,28). Levi was a man of the world. Yet, the moment Jesus called him, it says, he left all, rose up and followed Him. And that is how he became a great apostle of Jesus. Today, as you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help you decide to work for Jesus and also help you in keeping that decision.